


Twisted Affection | HuntBastian

by Joksey



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Glee, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, Manipulation, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 19,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23019079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joksey/pseuds/Joksey
Summary: Sebastian was created to help Barry, but ended up getting him into more trouble than before.He makes mistakes and learns from it, but all of his hardwork will be for nothing when he meets a boy named Hunter.-Hunter was manipulative and twisted in his sense of affection. Read on as he takes advantage of Barry, even years after they separate.Enjoy.
Relationships: Cooper Seldon/Barry Allen, Hunter Clarington/Sebastian Smythe
Comments: 14
Kudos: 79





	1. Sebastian

~ **Barry** ~

When I was eleven, my whole world was flipped upside down.

My mother died and my father was accused of murdering her. No one believed me when I told them who really killed her.

If anything, it just led to more bullying. I was taken in by the West's and treated like I was family.

It was fine for a while, but it only got worse the older I got.

By the time my sophmore year in high school ended, my arm was broken and I was being transfered.

My uncle on my mother's side, Richard Smythe, heard about the bullying and talked to Joe about adopting me- at least until I graduated.

Joe agreed and I took my uncle's family name legally.

I still talked with them on the phone, but I wanted to change myself. I didn't want to be the same kid who just took a beating.

I wanted to fight for myself for once and to do that, I needed a rebranding.

Before she died, my mother told me that if I had a brother, she'd name him Sebastian. I talked to my uncle about it, he said that it'd give me a better chance at a normal life.

Before I knew it, my name was legally changed to Sebastian Smythe and we were spending the summer in my " _Father's_ " villa in france.

It gave me time to heal my arm and change my image.

It helped that my mother was Parisian and wanted to teach me about France including the language.

There, I learned to be more confident and sure of myself.

My stepmother was amazing and full of sass. I guess you could say that I got it from her.

She introduced me to a small café, where I discovered my first gay crush.

I've never really questioned my sexuality before, but being in Paris really helped me with that.

We moved to Ohio just before the school year started.

My father wanted me to go to an all boys private school named Dalton. He told me that it had a zero tolerance bullying policy.

It made sense why he chose it. He didn't want to risk having another bullying problem.

By the time I went to school, I was completely different.

I was well known as someone you shouldn't mess with. It was exciting to see the difference from my previous life to the one I made for myself.

The difference got to my head and I made more trouble than getting into it.

Before I even knew it, " _Sebastian_ " had become a different person entirely. I only realized it when I hurt Blaine.

I felt teribble, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't do anything.

It was like I was a passenger in my own body. I could see and hear everything Sebastian could, but I couldn't stop him.

It took Dave Karofski's suicide attempt to snap me out of it.

I apologized to the people I hurt, namely the New Directions, and hosted a charity to help Dave.

We became friends after I visited him in the hospital. I explained to both him and the Warblers what happened, Klaine included.

They promised not to tell anyone without asking me first and so far they haven't.

I told Dave that I would've liked to try something with him, but I wasn't looking for anyone to date at the moment. He said it was fine and we exchanged numbers.

We've been talking ever since.

Luckily, Sebastian hadn't shown up, save for when I was anxious. It was nice and normal for a while.

But the school board decided to suspend my title of Warbler captain.

It took them a couple of months, but they found someone who they thought could take my place.

I accepted it, knowing that I probably deserved worse for what I've done, even if I wasn't in control.

I didn't think anything of it when the new guy walked in with a polite smile.

If only I looked closer. If I had seen the look in his eyes beneath the nice guy facade.

Maybe then, I could've avoided him.

Maybe, I wouldn't have fallen in love with him.


	2. Hunter

~ **Hunter** ~

My mother died after giving birth to me, leaving me to live with a military sargeant as my dad.

He never openly blamed me for her death, but I could tell.

He pushed me to become a soldier like he was. He shipped me off to military school at the first chance he had gotten.

I did what I had to just to climb the ranks.

It made it easier to get what I wanted. To see the reality behind a person's public facade.

My mother was said to be a great singer, so it wasn't a surprise when my dad found out I could sing. " _It's a genetic gift._ " he said.

I was transfered to Dalton academy in Ohio to be the replacement captain of a glee club called The Warblers.

My dad accepted the offer, wanting me to be just like my mom.

I didn't argue about it. Besides, I could kill some time without the rigorous training.

I met the previous captain, who seemed very interesting.

He was nice and polite, but I could tell that he was hiding something. I spent most of my free time getting close to him.

It also helped that we were roommates.

He was polite most of the time, but there were those rare moments when he'd act completely different.

He could go from apologizing for everything he'd done to snarking at someone with sass that could make you go speechless.

I asked around the school about it.

They said that Sebastian was an ass for a while, then the complete opposite ever since someone attempted suicide.

It seemed natural for some, but I could tell that there was something else.

Before I knew it, my curiosity turned to obssession. I wanted to drag whatever he was hiding out into the light. To bring out the darker side of him.

Then one day, he snapped.

We were hanging out when a guy around our age came up to us in the Lima Bean. He seemed buff, but I could probably take him down.

Sebastian seemed upset as the guy started talking. " _Hey Allen, so this is where you've been hiding._ "

Sebastian sighed as he put down his cup of coffee. " _What do you want?_ "

The guy was irritated and pulled him by his collar. He was babbling on about respect when Sebastian cut him off.

It was fascinating to see a naturally kindhearted person shut someone up with a single sentence.

The guy was left stunned in place as Sebastian stood up to leave.

I followed after him with a smirk at the guy's face, it was absolutely priceless. By the time he came out of his daze, we were already out the door.

" _Hey Seb, wait up._ " " _Leave me alone Clarington._ "

I caught him by his shoulder. If looks could kill, his glare would set you on fire. He was obviously pissed, and I couldn't help but love it.

This was exactly what I wanted. Of course, I couldn't do anything but continue to act for now.

He yelled at me as I kept calm and collected.

I couldn't ruin this, not now. Not when I've finally gotten a chance to find his secret for myself.

He acted snarky for a few days afterwards.

He was easily triggered and it took him a while to relax with me. All it took was patience.

It took a few more days after that for him to return to his normal act.

I was a bit disappointed that he did. It was funny to see him shut down anyone who wanted to even look at him.

Judging by the looks on the Warblers' faces, it was easy to tell that they knew something.

I coerced Sebastian to tell me.

I told him that I deserved to know as both his best friend and the only Warbler not to know.

I asked him about the guy from Lima Bean and why he called him Allen.

It was easy to get him to talk after all of the time I've spent with him.

He told me his real name, why he changed it, and why it was a secret. He also told me of the incident from earlier in the year.

Before I knew it, I wanted him to be mine.

I waited for several days before asking him to be my boyfriend- to be mine.

He was shocked. He asked if I was sure, even after everything he told me. I told him I was.

He was so excited that he was almost bouncing in his spot.

He was officially mine, and I did everything I could to keep it that way.

Too bad, I didn't realize how wrong it became until it was like an addiction.

I loved him, I still do, but I also loved breaking him.

Even if I didn't mean to.


	3. Change

They spent months together as a couple.

Everyone thought it was cute at first, until Hunter changed. Barry changed, to **him**.

No one knew how he did it, but Sebastian was back and helping Hunter force the rest of the Warblers to cheat.

First it was petty things like stealing the New Directions' trophy and trying to convince Blaine to come back.

They were all reluctant to do it, but they missed Blaine a lot.

It seemed harmless anyways. Besides, Hunter told them that they would return it anyways, so they didn't think much of it.

It became too much though when Hunter forced them to take steroids.

They didn't want to do it, but he threatened not to put them on stage if they didn't, and he seemed serious.

Most of the Warblers complied, albeit hesitantly, but one member rejected it.

He knew it would cost him.

The Warblers were everything to the members. It would be like losing a part of themselves, but Trent argued that he would be doing that anyways by agreeing.

He promptly left the club room.

Later that week, he heard of McKinley High's school dance. Luckily, no one would realize that Trent was gone.

He found Blaine along with his friend named Sam.

He told them of what was happening, but Blaine was the only one who got the hidden message.

" _Sebastian's back._ "

He and Sam called Finn for a secret meeting between the three plus Trent.

Blaine waited until they were done discussing it to tell Kurt in private.

Kurt had become quick friends with Barry after finding out the truth with the rest of the Warblers involved.

They met with Sebastian a few days later, only to find Hunter by his side.

To others Hunter would seem like a standard protective boyfriend with his arm around Sebastian's waist, but to Klaine, his grip seemed a bit too.. **possessive** , and harsh.

But Sebastian didn't seem to mind. He even seemed used to it, which caused concern for the Klaine couple.

The meeting had started out fine and seemingly peaceful, but it took a turn when they tried to talk to Sebastian in private.

Hunter was calm as he spoke, but his grip tightened and Sebastian winced.

Although the reaction was barely noticeable, Klaine made it a habit to find the smallest of movements from Barry ever since they became close.

Barry had a bad habit of hiding his problems from everyone, and Sebastian only helped with that.

They wouldn't be surprised if Sebastian had bruises from the tight grip on his waist, which only brought more worry to the couple.

With Hunter's apparent steroid problem as well as the easily angered attitude, there was no telling what he could've done to Sebastian without them knowing.

"Whatever you have to say to Sebastian, you can say it in front of me."

"But-"

"No." Sebastian cut Kurt off, almost hastily.

He almost looked afraid as he said, "No, he's right. Whatever you have to say, Hunter stays."

Hunter's grip seemed to loosen a bit and Sebastian relaxed a little under his gaze.

They had called it a day and told him that it wasn't that important.

Hunter obviously didn't believe them, judging by the small glare on his face.

When they left the table, they saw Hunter whisper something to Sebastian.

They could tell that it wasn't good by the hesitant look on Sebastian's face, who looked to his hand anxiously, only for him to crack a small smile when Hunter lifted it for a kiss to his knuckles.

Sebastian said something that pleased Hunter, but he still seemed nervous for some reason.

Klaine wanted to do something, to demand answers and for Hunter to back the hell away from Sebastian immediately.

Unfortunately, they couldn't do anything without any actual proof of possible abuse.

If Hunter truly was doing something to Barry **or** Sebastian, then he was really good at hiding it.

Based on what they just saw, they'd believe it easily.

After that meeting, Sebastian denied all contact from Klaine, even openly avoided them. They had a feeling that Hunter had something to do with it.

Trent offered his help while dragging Niff along, who were both suffering from the steroids. The three of them kept a closer watch on Hunter and Sebastian since they couldn't.


	4. With Him Gone

It took a while, but with the growing help of the Warblers and the rest of the N.D's, the Warblers were caught for their use of steroids.

The Warblers were suspended from the competition and lost a lot of respect, but they were happy, save for Hunter.

Everyone was silently relieved as Hunter was kicked out of the school for forcing the others to do things they didn't want to and for costing them the respect that the Warblers had gained for years.

Sebastian would've fought for him to stay, but Hunter stopped him with a quiet promise to always find him.

It calmed him down, but deep down, he was ecstatic.

The original personality that was hiding away, Barry Allen, was crying tears of joy on the inside at the thought of Hunter being far away from him.

It took weeks, but with the help of Klaine and the Warblers, Barry was slowly coerced entirely into the spotlight.

He was taken to therapy. He would just sit there with his body curled up into a ball, but after another week, he broke down.

He spent that entire week staring at the same wall, listening to his therapist try to get a word out of him.

He spent that time thinking. He realized that even though he was happy at first, with Hunter gone, he became depressed.

At first, he thought that it might've been just Sebastian feeling this way, but he realized that he also felt the same nonetheless.

Not because of the abuse, physical or mental, but because he fell.

Fell for the demon he called a lover. For someone who gave him nightmares. And who also gave him pleasant dreams.

It was confusing to him. He thought, ' _Why the hell would I still love that asshole?!_ ' But he did, and he knew it.

He broke down to Trent, who was the only Warbler stable enough in school to understand him.

He expected Trent to judge him, to turn his back on him when he told him.

He was surprised at first, but he showed anything but rejection. He was comforting and told him that it was fine.

He offered to come with him to his therapy sessions. Barry, not wanting to be alone and confused anymore, agreed.

It took Trent's reassuring words and gentle circles on his back to say anything.

To tell them both what was happening behind closed doors. How he felt, and unfortunately, how he still feels. He told them of how it started it out nice, but became more toxic as time went on.

Trent had explained the idea of Sebastian while Barry took a break before he had a mental breakdown.

His therapist was kind and understanding. He said that it was perfectly natural for someone with his kind of past. So with his anxiety calming down, Barry continued his story.

How Hunter was a kind and loving partner, but had become too controlling.


	5. Behind Closed Doors

It started with Hunter stopping him from going to Scandals, telling him that he had no need to go with Hunter in his life now.

Then he took his phone, telling him that it was distracting him from his boyfriend.

And then he told him not to hang out with his friends, when he could be spending that time with him instead.

Before, Barry ignored it, agreed with him after some convincing. But this was the first time he outright rejected the idea. "I can't just ditch all of my friends for you Hunter."

It was the first time Hunter ever seemed so angry. Towards Barry, at least.

He had seen that look before, the hardened glare in his eyes as it practically dared him to say more.

He had seen the wrath that came from it. But not towards **him** , **never** towards him.

Before, he had only ever had that look when someone hit on him. Now, it was being used on Barry.

And he was absolutely terrified, but he wouldn't say that out loud. And he wouldn't let it hold him back from speaking his mind either.

He believed that Hunter wouldn't actually do anything, that he loved him too much to.

Of course, Hunter was patient and calm at first. He tried to convince him like he'd done before, but Barry wouldn't let him.

It seemed to be a mistake as he cut Hunter off mid sentence.

Hunter stood and walked towards him slowly, almost predatory. With each step forward, Barry took a step back.

They continued this process for only seconds before his back was hitting the wall and Hunter was blocking his escape, his words fading off immediately.

Barry knew that if Hunter really did do something to him, he wouldn't be able to do anything against him. I mean, he was in military school for fuck sake.

It truly terrified him as Hunter's glare only seemed to have magnified in intensity in those few seconds the more he talked back to him.

He didn't even realize that he was shaking until he shut his eyes tightly in fear when Hunter moved his hand into the air.

He expected him to hit him, punch him, slap him even. He didn't exactly expect a gentle hand to caress his cheek though.

He also didn't expect the soft and calming voice whispering soothing words to him.

"Shh. It's okay. I won't hurt you."

He opened his eyes hesitantly, somehow expecting Hunter to hit him the moment they were fully opened.

He found himself looking into Hunter's eyes, still angry yet caring.

He found himself on the floor with his hand being held by Hunter's and the back of his head now being petted by his other hand. It was comforting.

"I don't want to hurt you." He should've seen the hidden meaning, the underlying " _But I will if I have to._ "

Before he knew it, he was being led to his bed.

"Let's talk about this later, okay?" Not quite remembering what they were even talking about, he nodded, wanting nothing more than to cuddle with Hunter.

To forget anything ever happened.

And he did, until he was stopped again. They fought again, but this time Barry didn't back down, resulting in him falling to the ground from a strong impact.

"Damnit Seb! I only want to protect you!" With tears in his eyes, Barry yelled. "By keeping me from everyone?! How is that supposed to protect me?!"

Expecting another hit, Barry lifted his arms over his face in an attempt to protect himself when Hunter raised his hand.

Just like that night, he didn't expect him to touch him so gently.

His gentle hold on Barry's wrist as he pulled his arms away from his face confused him.

Not wanting the same thing to repeat, Barry pushed him away, only to be slapped hard enough to lose his vision for a few seconds. "Don't push me away!"

Barry tried to glare at him the best he could, but the look on Hunter's face made it hard to do.

Whether it was a look of **hurt** or pure **anger** , he didn't know. He didn't **want** to know.

But it scared him to his core.

He flinched hard when Hunter punched the wall next to his head.

He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all.

The argument lasted for two minutes longer before all Barry could see was darkness.

When he woke up, he was in Hunter's arms with bandages on his ribs. Then he was hit with a flash of memories that he **knows** can't be his own.

It was the first of many.

Barry became more timid and scared, so Sebastian became more present.

It confused him. How this all started, how it continued. But most of all, it was confusing to him that even after everything, Hunter was always comforting to be around.

He would always tend to his wounds, cuddle with him afterwards, and sing him praises after every fight they had.

' _Maybe that's why._ ' He'd think. ' _Why I still love him._ '

The day Klaine asked to talk to him started out as a good day, one of the more rare times that Barry was in the spotlight rather than Sebastian.

The couple had asked to speak with him alone, a question that was obviously disliked by Hunter as his grip tightened on his waist.

He didn't realize that he flinched, only focusing on the bruise inducing grip.

When he heard the beginnings of an argument between the three, he cut in. "No."

He cursed himself for seeming too quick to answer as he feared that he might accidentally upset Hunter.

Speaking in a more calm manner, he told them something similar to what Hunter had said.

He relaxed as he felt Hunter's grip loosen, obviously satisfied with his response.

Just minutes later, Barry found himself watching Klaine's backs sadly, almost enviously, as they left. Beside him, Hunter whispered in his ear.

"I love you. You did good." Hunter rubbed the back of his hand with his thumb soothingly.

Despite himself, he felt relaxed at the action.

Relieved that Hunter wasn't mad at him. "I don't want you talking to them, alright? I don't trust them."

That jolted him from his mini trance, but he didn't say anything in fear of pissing him off. He didn't even realize that he was staring at his hand until Hunter lifted it to his lips.

As he placed a soft kiss to the skin, Barry felt a small smile appear on his face when Hunter told him that he had nothing to be afraid of.

For some reason, he believed it, but he was still nervous about having to avoid his friends.

"I love you." He said.

Whether he said it because he genuinely meant it in that moment, or because he wanted to please him, he didn't know anymore.

Just weeks later, the Warblers were caught for drug use and Hunter was expelled from school.

That was the last time he ever saw Hunter, not realizing that his promise to always find him wasn't as empty as he thought it would be.


	6. Cooper

~ **Hunter _~_**

After my dad found out about the steroid incident in Dalton, he became furious.

He hid his hatred for me less and yelled at me for being a demon, as he liked to call me.

It didn't take long for him to become upset with my presence as he shipped me off to another boarding school.

We didn't talk after that. We didn't interact at all.

The moment I hit 18, I changed my name to Cooper Seldon and moved away.

Seldon was my mother's maiden name, and Cooper was something that Seb and I came up with when we were still together in high school.

We hadn't seen each other since I left Dalton.

By the time I went to college, I found a girl named Felicity. She reminded me of Seb with her intelligence, her different view on things.

We went out for a while and she introduced me to a group called the "Hacktivists".

They were a small group of hackers that stood up against injustice through coding.

She taught me a few things, and me being a quick learner, it only took a few months for me to get to her level. It also helped that my roommate was a part of the same group.

It was fun, but it also reminded me of Seb again.

I tried my best not to be as controlling, something that I realized wasn't right. But even though I knew that, I knew I wouldn't be able to help it if I met him again.

But there's also no way anyone could stop me from finding him. My one true love..

Felicity created a "super virus". It was amazing how smart she was.

It seemed invincible, but I made a huge mistake as I was still a rookie. I didn't know that I could still be tracked down as I tried to get rid of the student loans.

It was only made obvious later that day when I was arrested in public.

I could just imagine my father sneering at me in disappointment, telling me that he was unsurprised that I got myself into this mess.

I told them that I created the super virus to avoid the others being arrested with me.

I thought " _If I'm going down, I might as well go down alone._ "

Because of my statement, I was found by the NSA. They offered to fake my death and in return, I would work for them for a total of five years, after that I could do whatever I want.

It was an easy escape, so of course I agreed, but I didn't realize that spending my time with them for that long would change my view on the world.

It opened my eyes to the truth.

When my time was done, I went searching for Seb.

I wanted him to join me, to rid the world of it's injustice with him by my side.

When I couldn't find any recent records of him in Ohio or Paris, I searched Central City. The files I found showed Bartholomew Allen; CCPD's CSI in training.

He was recorded to be in a coma for 9 months after being struck by lightning, woken only a [week] ago.

The incident was the same day as the Particle Accelerator explosion that caused a surge of energy to burst throughout the entire city.

With a little more digging, I found out that he was cared for by the man who created the Particle Accelerator as well as the last two workers he had left.

The only thing known to the media about that day is that many were killed or heavily injured by the explosion.

I observed Seb as well as the city itself for a while before I could show myself.

It amazed me to think that he had just gotten out of a coma from a lightning strike only a little while ago.

Usually, an accident like the one he was in would've left lasting effects such as seizures, skin burns, headaches, and muscle weakness.

So you can probably imagine my surprise when he was moving as if he hadn't just been in a coma for almost a year, seemingly unaffected by the fact that he was struck by lightning.

Since the Particle Accelerator explosion, there have been many incidents of people who supposedly have supernatural powers.

The reports were either claimed delusions or pranks, while others were kept hidden by an unknown source.

It didn't take long for me to figure out what was happening in Central.

Especially when I saw Seb disappear into a flash of light only to reappear a second later as if he never left.

A blogger by the name of Iris West had named him "The Blur". She was also someone Seb was very close to.

I felt a hatred towards her, seeing as Seb was pining after her as she remained oblivious.

While I was watching him, I found out about his interaction with a certain company just a day before he was put into a coma.

You can imagine my surprise when I found Felicity Smoak in the employee database.

I decided to keep track of her as she could be useful to my plans. With both her and Seb in my sights, I knew that I could do big things with the world.


	7. Notice

Iris always knew that something was wrong with Barry.

The moment he came back to Central City after spending so long elsewhere, she could tell immediately. She could also tell that it was different than before.

She saw the old scars and faded bruises. She could easily tell which ones were from Central and which were from after.

She knew he had lapses of depression and anxiety. She found his pill bottles hidden in the back of the mirror cabinet in the bathroom a couple of times.

She also noticed that he'd always call or text the same group of people whenever he was even close to panicking.

She knew of it all, but she never said a word about it. She knew how Barry would react if she did. Defensive, nervous, pained, you name it.

So instead, she made sure to keep a careful watch. She figured out what would trigger his anxiety and depression. She always tried her best to steer him away from it subtly.

She also found out the names of the group Barry liked to call in his moments of panic, had found out where they met.

She did everything she knew of to keep him happy and safe, but the night of the particle accelerator explosion..

Her heart had dropped the moment she saw him having a seizure on that damned hospital bed.

She never did like the hospital, the smell of sickness and too much cleaning products as well as the different medicines would get to her easily, but seeing Barry there for **nine months**..

It broke her heart to even think of going back there, only to see her brother figure flatline for the millionth time since he was first admitted.

She had mixed emotions when her dad told her of the offer he was given by the man who started it all.

She felt happy and glad that he was going to be out of that hospital, but she was also upset at the man in the wheelchair.

Her brother had looked up to him, yet he damaged over half of the city, including her brother who was put into a coma.

She let her dad decide what to do with the offer and only two days after, Barry was transferred to the place that caused his accident.

She grieved for months since the accident, telling herself that maybe, just maybe.. she could've stopped him from going into that stupid lab.

Stop him from grabbing that stupid chain.

She felt guilty for her brother's pain. She had promised herself before that she would help him, but she never did.

She wasn't there for him when he was being bullied by Tony. When he broke his arm. When he had to get away from the place he was born in for his own safety. And now, he was in a coma.

She wallowed in guilt and depression for nine months until he woke, and even then she would think of a different scenario to that night from time to time.

One where she wouldn't allow herself any kind of happiness. Where Barry didn't..

She wouldn't forgive herself if that happened. In the nine months that she was killing herself with her over thinking, she talked with Eddy a lot.

He was her escape. She felt bad for wanting to forget about what happened, but she wanted a way out of the dark depths of her mind, and he was her light.

She should've made more of an effort to hang out with Barry. To bond with him after so long of him being asleep, of not hearing his voice.

She knew she should have, but after getting together with Eddy and Barry waking up and moving as if nothing had happened in the first place, it was just too easy for her to forget that it ever did.

She completely erased the incident from her mind only a week or two after Barry woke up.

She acted as if everything was the same as before as did many others, but they all knew deep down that it wasn't.

She never took notice of his random disappearances. The slight burning smell whenever he popped up out of nowhere.

She never noticed any of it.

And now, after weeks of the same thing- of her not noticing anything, he was gone.

Not a trace of him around, and not a single sight of him for days now.

And she was devastated.


	8. Surprise Appearance

Barry was having trouble dealing with his thoughts.

First he was put into a nine month coma, then he finds out that he has super speed, and now there's criminals at large with super powers.

Not only that, but now he had an extremely high metabolism, meaning that most substances didn't affect him anymore.

It was one thing to lose the ability to get buzzed and forget all of his problems, but it was another thing to have to deal with his mental problems with no meds to help him.

Despite being able to heal extremely quickly, nothing could fully heal a scar that isn't physical.

Having no way to stop his anxiety if ever needed **gave** him anxiety. It was honestly tiring having to put in extra effort to actively stop himself from panicking all the time.

His anxiety always led to Sebastian, a part of him that he'd rather not remember.

And now that his meds didn't work on him anymore, he was constantly afraid of triggering that side of him.

It had been a month or so since he woke up.

He was used to being the Flash by now. At least, he could run without tripping, that is.

It was hard being Barry, the Flash, and hiding Sebastian all at the same time. Luckily, no one found out about any of it, besides Joe who found out he was the Flash.

Today started out normal.

Barry used his speed to do his morning routine, somehow being late to work **again** , pined over Iris afterwards, and met with Caitlin and Cisco at Star Labs.

It had been quiet lately, no metahuman criminals in sight. Not even regular criminals, just the day to day mugger every once in a while.

It was a bit weird, but Barry was just happy to finally get some proper rest.

But of course, nothing good can last for long. Barry had been getting this weird feeling lately, like something was gonna happen.

He didn't know if it was necessarily good or bad, but he knew that it would be big.

It made him tense the whole day. He spent most of his time worrying about what might happen.

He calmed down when it became nighttime with no trouble throughout the entire day.

He finally let his guard down and spent the next few hours hanging out with his friends until he went home.

That's when he realized what his earlier superstition was about.

He stepped into the West household with a calm attitude that quickly turned to shock and disbelief when he spotted a figure in the room.

The intruder was all too familiar as he could recognize those features anywhere.

He stood stock still as the person moved towards him and spoke with a voice that he knew too well.

"Seb."

The man's hands grabbed his own softly, as they laid practically limp in his hold.

"Hunter?" He couldn't believe it, the man responsible for his biggest anxiety was here after so long.

"W-What are you doing here? And how did you find me?"

He didn't realize that he was being pulled to the other side of the room until he felt himself being lowered onto the couch.

He was silent as he noticed Hunter staring at him fondly.

Hunter was still holding his hands, gently rubbing his thumbs across the back of them.

"I told you I'd always find you." He lifted his left hand to place it on Barry's right cheek. Barry hated that he could feel himself relax at the soft touch.

"I changed my name. It's Cooper now, Cooper Seldon."

He recognized that name. Cooper. That was the name that he and Hunter made up in high school when Hunter found out about Sebastian.

"The reason I came is because I want you to help me." At that, Barry's brows furrowed in confusion. "Help you?"

Not long after, Barry could feel himself blacking out, and it terrified him.


	9. A/N - Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick run through of what will happen for the next month or so.

This story will be on hiatus until June 30th (PST).

I won't be able to update any of my stories as I will be focusing on one fic for a writing contest I will be doing.

I will continue updating this story on July 3rd.

From then, I will be updating three fics (This story and two others) on Tuesdays and Fridays to give me enough time to create new chapters without frying my brain.

Thank you if you've read this far and I'll see you soon!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for those who are subscribed if you've been getting multiple notifications.


	10. Kidnapped By Her Dead Lover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yayy! I'm back!
> 
> My contest is finally entering its final stage and as promised, here's another chapter.
> 
> I will be continuing this starting today. Enjoy!

Felicity was currently having a breakdown.

Starling was being hacked citywide, everyone was in a panic, and the virus used to do it was the same one that she made five years ago.

If that wasn't bad enough, the moment she was in front of her house door, she was grabbed and thrown into the back of a van with a bag over her head.

[Twenty] minutes later, she was being pushed into a chair and the bag was ripped off of her head.

She looked around in panic to find herself in a warehouse with multiple computer screens in front of her. As she was looking around, she gasped.

"Barry?!"

Her eyes landed on an unconscious Barry tied to another chair next to her. He was out cold, even after yelling his name in panic.

She was distracted by the sound of an obviously modified voice.

"Felicity Smoak, just the woman I wanted to see." Felicity was quick to dart her eyes towards the shadow in front of her. She couldn't see their face, but their stance seemed familiar.

"What the hell do you want from me?! Who are you?"

"You really don't know?" The shadowy figure pressed a button under their neck before stepping into the light. "I thought you'd never forget your first love."

Felicity felt her heart break in confusion. "You died."

Her voice was soft, as if she was attempting to keep her voice from cracking. "They told me-" "That I committed suicide? The NSA needed a hacker with game for cyber espionage, and I needed to not be in prison for the rest of my life."

Cooper crossed his arms as he continued. "Because of what the NSA wanted me doing, it was.. advantageous for me to be dead."

"When I found out you died, I was devastated.. I loved you."

His face scrunched up in a solemn expression, "I loved you too." Cooper took a step forward, uncrossing his arms. "After I finished my time with the NSA, I discovered you've become this corporate lap dog."

Felicity shook her head in denial to the tone he used. "You changed." "If you ever thought I was capable of doing something like this, you never knew me at all."

"When you wrote this virus Felicity, you knew **exactly** what it was capable of." He spread his arms in a show of the screens behind him.

"All I'm doing is unleashing the true potential of what **you** made."

"Why?!" Felicity's voice returned to its soft state as she continued, "This isn't who you are."

"Five years with the NSA, you learn a lot about how the world works. How we can't be saved or salvaged. How it's every man for himself." He took a quick deep breath as his stare hardened.

"You also learn that when a city bank goes under a, say- financial cyber attack, the mayor will reach out to the treasury department and request an influx of fresh cash."

Felicity felt a moment of realization as she could tell where this was going, based on what Cooper was saying.

"Cash which is transported by armored trucks navigating according to a closed-end GPS system, which directs them to city deposit. If the drivers deviate from the route, the trucks are shut down."

Cooper gave Felicity a look, "But you are going to hack into the system and direct the cash to come here."

"It was about money, and I'm the sell out?" "No." Cooper took a pause as he stepped a bit closer. "See, breaking into the treasury's asymmetric encryption is beyond even my capabilities."

Felicity glared at him and responded in a hardened voice.

"I'm going to politely decline." Cooper turned to the side with an exasperated look before quickly pulling out a gun and aiming at the almost forgotten Barry, who still hadn't moved an inch.

"Don't!" "That's why I brought some motivation into town for you."


	11. Panic

Felicity knew of Barry's super speed, but she also knew that it was useless with him unconscious.

Her worry was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing.

One of the men behind her handed a phone to Cooper and she realized that it was hers. She caught a glimpse of the screen and saw Oliver's picture before Cooper dropped it to the floor and crushed it.

He nodded towards the men before they picked up Felicity by her arm and dragged her to the desk of computers.

"That terminal's configured to only connect with the treasury's IP. I mention this so you don't try to do anything stupid, like alert the police."

As Felicity hacked her way into the treasury's GPS system, she noticed Cooper stepping towards Barry with the gun still in his hand.

Just before he could reach Barry, Felicity yelled. "I'm done! I'm done."

Cooper was next to her in seconds. "That quick?" "There's a reason you wanted me, right? They'll be at your front door in five minutes."

Cooper stared for seconds before speaking. "Guards will be armed."

Behind her, Felicity could hear the men's voices fading as they spoke to each other. Felicity winced at the sudden tight grip on her wrist.

She looked down to see a zip tie biting at her left wrist before she felt Cooper grip at her chin in warning. "Stay put, okay? Just because we used to screw doesn't mean I won't do anything."

Before Cooper left, he placed the gun on the table just out of her reach. Felicity guessed that he did it to tease her.

When Cooper stepped out, Felicity heard a **Beep**.

Felicity looked down to her right wrist and was reminded of the watch that her boss gave her.

She also remembered the fact that it practically replaces your computer, meaning that she had wifi. "Don't worry Barry, I'll get us out of here."

She was quick to link the computer to the watch's wifi before sending a quick message to Oliver. _Hopefully we aren't too far away._

Felicity glanced to her left and made a quick decision to reach for the gun Cooper left.

It took her a minute of stretching her right arm and just barely touching it to finally grip it in her hand.

As if he was on cue, Cooper stepped in with an uninterested expression on his face.

Felicity quickly aimed the gun at Cooper as he continued his calm steps, seemingly unfazed by the gun pointed right at him.

"Don't come any closer! Or else!"

"Or else what? You'll shoot me?" Cooper raised his hands in mock surrender as he stopped in front of her.

He bent down so the gun was leveled with his forehead.

He stared into her eyes with a taunting look on his face. "Do it. Pull the trigger." Felicity's hand was shaking as she feared having to use it at such close range.

Cooper smirked at her. "You can't do it." Cooper moved, causing Felicity to panic.

Felicity shut her eyes tightly as her shaking finger pulled the trigger. She flinched, expecting a loud Bang!

Of course, she was understandably confused when the only thing she heard was a **Click**.

Her eyes were wide the moment she realized what happened. "The gun.. i-it wasn-"

Cooper stood, taking the gun from her easily before cocking it and shooting at the floor, only for the same thing to happen.

Felicity was too busy staring at Cooper in shock that she didn't hear the light footsteps from behind her.

Cooper smirked at Felicity's gaping expression.

Replacing the clip with a loaded one, Cooper turned on the safety and put it away. "I'd never risk hurting my lover with a loaded weapon."

"Lover? What do yo-"

Before Felicity could even fully register what he could mean by that, she felt something hit her in the neck.

It wasn't long before everything was blurry.


	12. Surprise!

~ **Oliver** ~

My phone buzzed in my pocket, notifying me of a text message. The moment I saw the screen, I called over the others.

"What? What is it?" I gave them my phone. "It's Felicity. We've got a location."

We geared up and drove a block away from the location and snuck around the entrance to find three vans rolling up to a group of armed men.

As the men started shooting them, I turned to Roy and Diggle, "You guys deal with this, I'll get Felicity."

They nodded and we split up.

I snuck into the warehouse to find an area full of computers with the same symbol on all of them.

I was tense as I walked in with my bow at the ready, in case I needed it.

It was too quiet. After surveying the area for any kind of danger, I found Felicity unconscious at a table of even more computers.

I rushed to her side and cut the zip tie on her wrist before trying to wake her up. "Felicity? Hey. Felicity, I need you to wake up."

Her eyes opened droopily. It took her a few seconds to pull herself out of her haze enough to speak.

"..no..rry." Before I could question what she was saying, my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of machines moving.

I looked down to my chest to see two red dots as the sound of slow clapping appeared from the direction of the lasers.

The man looked more intimidating than the rest outside. It was easy to guess that he was the leader of the group. The man smirked as two turrets lit up above him.

"I wouldn't move if I were you. You might be able to escape most of the gunfire, but I'm sure Felicity won't."

"Who are you?"

The man ignored what I said as he spoke, "You know, I didn't believe him at first when he told me about you."

He scoffed, "Who would have guessed that Starling City's _Billionaire Playboy_ would learn to shoot an arrow." _How did he-?_

A rush of wind and lightning passed me as the weight in my hands disappeared.

My bow and quiver were both gone in under a second. I knew this feeling, but I couldn't believe it.

I heard the gunshot before I could feel the bullet landing in my shoulder.

The force pushed me to the ground next to the table of computers, but when I looked up, Felicity was gone. "Where is she?"

The man laughed as he replied, "We knew Felicity would call you- we wanted her to, but we couldn't make it obvious."

A new voice appeared from behind him, a voice all too familiar, yet not.

"We needed you immobilized for the time being. We can't have you ruining our plans so easily."

There he was- Barry, with a smirk so unlike him.

"Surprise." His voice was sarcastic as he said it. I would've thought that I was hallucinating if it wasn't for the pain in my shoulder.

The loud gunfire from before became quiet as the sound of footsteps echoed throughout the warehouse.

"We'd hate to leave so soon, but it seems like the fun is over. Felicity's coming with us. We'll see you soon _Oli_."

With that, they left in a flash of lightning. Not long after, Roy and Diggle entered from the same direction they [disappeared] from.

"Oliver!" "Watch out!"

The two turrets from before aimed themselves at the two of them. Luckily, both were quick enough to move before it could start shooting.

Diggle hid as Roy shot them both. When the turrets were taken down, they both rushed to my side and helped me to stand.

"Where's Felicity? What happened?"

I could feel my breathing become [harder]. "It was a setup. They have her." I could vaguely hear questions asking who I meant, but all I could focus on was the wound in my shoulder.

I touched the wound only to hiss at the pain before drawing my hand back. There was something wrong. It felt like..

"Poison."

Only seconds after, I felt myself going limp as my consciousness faded. The last thing I heard was my name being yelled.


	13. Clues To Sebastian

Oliver woke up to a hospital bed. The story they gave the doctors was that he was being mugged.

The bullet he was shot with was laced with a minor poison that doesn't cause major damage until twenty-four hours without treatment.

It was obvious that they didn't want him dead, but he still couldn't find out why.

He was discharged only hours after he woke up and went to his base almost immediately.

He spent most of his time either trying to find where Felicity was being held, or trying to figure out why Barry- of all people, would team up with a bad guy.

Everything that happened confused him like all hell.

He didn't say a word of what happened or what he was thinking, despite all of the worried and confused questions.

It was only when he got a call from Cisco that he said anything.

He was in denial that it was really Barry, but considering he's been missing from Central...

His head felt like spinning, but for Felicity's sake, he held it together- even if only by a thread.

He, Roy, and Diggle visited Team Flash in Central. There, Oliver explained exactly what had happened in the warehouse.

They were as shocked as you'd expect them to be.

They had no clue that Barry could ever do anything like they'd been told he did.

If it wasn't for the serious look on Oliver's face as he told them, they would've laughed.

Oliver asked them if they ever noticed Barry acting strange. No one had a single thing to say.

Since they were no help to him, they suggested that he talked to Joe. His lunch break was soon so he'd be at Jitters for the next half hour.

Oliver decided to go there alone while the other two stayed with Team Flash in case something pops up.

When Oliver arrived at Jitters, it was easy to find Joe in the corner with his head in his hand as he drank his coffee.

As he stood in front of his secluded table, Joe looked up at him with tired eyes.

"Oliver? What are you doing here?"

It was obvious that something was bothering him as he had small bags under his eyes.

"I saw Barry." That single sentence had him almost jumping upwards.

"You have?! Where??" Joe lost his sudden enthusiasm when Oliver hesitated. "It's not good, is it.." Oliver shook his head and took a seat in front of him.

In hushed whispers, Oliver told him a summary of what happened [two] nights before.

He coded it so no one would know of his and Barry's vigilante antics.

It was a good thing he did too [cause] halfway through his explanation, Iris appeared next to him with a pot of coffee and a [hurried] look.

The conversation was halted immediately as she started asking Oliver questions.

"You know where Barry is?? Where is he? Is he hurt, or in trouble? Is that why he isn't here ye-?" "Iris, calm down. Give him a chance to breathe."

Iris took a deep breath, never looking away from Oliver. "He's been missing for days..." Iris gave a dejected look, her eyes looking far away.

Oliver looked to Joe with a silent question. When he nodded, Oliver turned back to Iris, who was now sitting on a chair with the coffee pot placed on the table.

"Have you.. seen Barry acting weird before?.. As if he was someone else?"

It only took Iris several seconds to come up with an answer, but she was confused as to why he'd ask her that. "Yeah."

Iris dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "Barry doesn't like to talk about it, but he always seems different when he's anxious."

Iris showed them the screen to reveal a picture of an orange pill bottle.

"Barry always takes these but he hides it, so he doesn't know that I know he has them."

Oliver nodded. "Is there anything else?" Iris shook her head, "No. But he does have a contact list he goes to when he does get anxious."

"Do you know who they are, or how to contact them?"

Iris showed him screenshots of Barry's contact list. "These are all of them. They all have weird nicknames, but you might be able to call them."

"Thank you." Iris nodded as Oliver stood up to head for Star Labs with the new info.

She and Joe both had to get back to work, so once Joe left, Iris picked up the forgotten coffee pot and made her way around the café.

The entire time she was working, she thought over the entire conversation. _Why would I tell him- a complete stranger to me, all of that??_

She wondered and wondered. _Sure, he's friends with Barry, but it took me a while just to tell my dad. So why was it so easy to tell Oliver Queen?_

Her gut told her that she could trust him, that it was urgent for her to tell him what she did.

Still, she couldn't help but feel like.. something was missing from her own puzzle box. As if she was given only half the picture.

She wanted to find the missing pieces- to see the whole picture for herself, even if she'd have to do it by force.


	14. Background Check

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know I'm posting this last minute, but in my defense..
> 
> I got lazy..
> 
> Yep, that's all I got, so bye 👋

~ **Oliver** ~

Cisco was able to find the names and pictures of everyone in Barry's contacts using the phone numbers listed.

It took longer than it would have if Felicity was there, but Cisco was able to track their files to figure out where they could be located.

It was only a minute in though when I noticed something in particular. "Stop."

Cisco had found their high school files as most of them were in the same school together when I saw it.

"Sebastian Smythe?" Cisco had asked.

Under Barry's picture in the Dalton yearbook was that name, which could be a clue to finding more, but that wasn't what had caught my eye.

"Hunter Clarington." I whispered the name absentmindedly, but the others heard it.

"You know him?"

"..He's the guy who kidnapped Felicity. He's the person Barry was with..." I didn't have to look to be able to tell that they were shocked.

"So they went to the same school together??" "It seems like it, but what's their connection exactly?"

A few more clicks of the keyboard and Cisco pulled up a picture of Barry and this "Hunter" guy standing at the front of a group.

"This is _The Warblers_. It says here that they were a highly respected [show choir] before news of Steroid usages were made public."

"Steroid use? There's no way Barry would've let that happen if he was in that group!"

Caitlin was the first to comment on the picture. "Hey, most of Barry's contacts are in the group."

She pointed to a few of them while calling out their names. "Two of Barry's contacts were also former members of the club."

I left only minutes after to call the people on the list.

I didn't want them to know who I was yet, so I used my voice modulator to disguise my identity as I called.

" ** _Hello, who is this?_** " "Kurt Hummel-Anderson, I'd like to ask you and your husband about a friend of yours. His name is [Barry Allen]."

I could hear shuffling in the background before a new voice appeared.

" ** _How do you know him?_** " I ignored the question easily. "What do you know about his relationship with Hunter Clarington?"

There was a faint gasp on the other line as well as a [panicked] " _Hunter?!_ " " ** _They met??_** " "Yes."

I could hear more shuffling now. It was quick and loud as if the person was in a hurry. I could just barely hear what sounded like panicked yelling.

It was easy to tell that they were calling someone. Probably the other contacts on Barry's list.

"I'll be in Central City if you'd like to know more. Meet me at the back corner of the Jitters Coffee Shop tomorrow afternoon."

Before they could ask anything, I hung up.

We were lucky enough that [some] of the people on Barry's contacts were staying only hours away from here.

I could tell by the worry and panic in their voices that Barry being with that Hunter guy was nothing but bad news, especially after what had happened at the warehouse.

I walked back into the [cortex] to find files of Hunter Clarington and Sebastian Smythe as well as a few others on the screen.

"What did you find?" I stood next to Diggle with my arms crossed as Cisco relayed the information to me.

"Hunter Clarington went to military school for the majority of high school before being given a scholarship at Dalton where he took over as the leader of the Warblers."

"The former captain, Barry, had his title suspended because of bullying, almost causing permanent eye damage to a student, blackmail, and more..."

"..." No one could say a word as silence easily took over the room.

This wasn't like the Barry we all knew, and it disturbed us to think that he was any different than we know him now.

Cisco broke through the silence with a somewhat hopeful voice.

"On the bright side, the Warblers' steroid incident only started when this Hunter guy joined the group."

That fact lifted our moods just a bit, but we were still nervous about what else we might find.


	15. Personalities

~ **Oliver** ~

Everyone was caught in their thoughts, trying desperately to figure out whether the reports were true or not, but my mind was elsewhere.

There's something that's been bothering me. When I found Felicity, she was trying to tell me something, but her words were slurred so it was hard to tell what.

" _..no..rry._ "  
.  
.  
.  
"Not Barry.."

I could feel the room turn to me. "Check Barry's medical history. Check anything from anxiety to personality disorders." Cisco hesitated, but he did as he was told.

A few files came up, but one caught the attention of the entire room.

"It's a list of therapist appointments. They're all dated after the steroid scandal. The first few are signed by Richard Smythe, Sebastian's dad."

Cisco opened a secure file and we all felt dread settle in the atmosphere immediately.

Roy read it aloud to the room.

**Doctor's** **Notes**

_**Barry Allen-Smythe, adoptive son of Richard Smythe, suffers from MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder).**_

_**I believe he's been suffering lapses of it since he was a child, but it was triggered in high school during a "Prank gone wrong".** _

_**The original personality, Barry Allen, is kind and considerate to others. He is willing to sacrifice himself in order for others to be happy.** _

_**The second personality, Sebastian Smythe, however..** _

_**I believe that "Sebastian" is misguided and thought only of himself and his own happiness.** _

_**Mr.Allen-Smythe created Sebastian in order to avoid bullying, but ended up becoming the bully instead. Barry regrets Sebastian and tries to avoid him.** _

_**Sebastian seems to appear whenever he is anxious. To avoid him making an appearance, Barry has been taking anxiety pills.** _

"So he's been this way since he was a child..??" No one could answer Diggle as none of us knew.

Cisco closed the file, opening multiple in its place. The first two files didn't have much, but it seemed to increase in words in the third file.

**Week** **Three**

**_Mr.Allen, as he'd like me to call him, has started speaking more._**

**_Today, he brought a friend in. The first half hour was spent speaking of Barry's slight steroid problem._ **

**_I'm told that he and a few others were forced to take them before being caught. Luckily, Mr.Allen found a way around it, so it's easier to help him with._ **

**____________ **

**_Mr.Allen has been in an abusive/toxic relationship for half a year but won't say who._ **

**_Mr.Allen's friends have started coming to every session he has with me as he seems more comfortable with them around, allowing him to speak more often of his problems._ **

**_Mr.Allen seems to be having mixed feelings._ **

**_He has displayed symptoms of depression at the loss of his abusive lover, but shows signs of disgust towards them- sometimes even himself._ **

**_It's come to my attention that Mr.Allen is experiencing something similar to stockholm syndrome._ **

**_Mr.Allen has confessed to still harboring a sense of affection towards his abuser, but has stated that he hates himself for it._ **

The files went on and on about various things, but we closed the files quickly to avoid invading anymore of Barry's privacy.

"Iris told me that Barry's been hiding anxiety pills from her.."

Caitlin was staring off at the now black screen when she whipped her head around in what looked like realization.

"Barry's been acting weird ever since we found out about his high metabolism- as if he was afraid of something, but if what the files say is true, then it'd make sense as to why."

Cisco nodded with his hand on his chin as he became lost in thought, snapping his fingers only seconds afterwards.

"The day before Barry disappeared, he was acting more cautious than usual, checking behind him as if someone was watching him."

"Maybe.. He **was** being watched."

The atmosphere changed from disbelief and confusion to cold with dread and anxiousness.

"I called one of Barry's contacts. I told them to meet me at Jitters tomorrow. They were.. terrified, when I called them. They started panicking the moment I mentioned Hunter."

They nodded, the air still tense.

"Hopefully they'll have more of an idea than we do. We really need it."


	16. Conversation Over Coffee

Oliver sat at the back of Jitters just as he said he would, calmly drinking a cup of coffee as he waited.  
  
He didn't have to wait too long as he spotted a small group of adults walking his way nervously, besides the two who walked in the front with confidence.  
  
They seemed a bit skeptical about meeting a complete stranger, but they didn't seem to care in favor of the Hunter problem.  
  
From what Oliver could tell, there was Kurt, Blaine, Thad, and Santana, who was in a rival show choir.  
  
The closer they got to him, the more they recognized who he was, but they kept quiet about it- for now.  
  
The group had stopped just a few feet away from Oliver as the ones in front stood with a sort of seriousness that could get anyone moving.  
  
After a small analytical glare from Santana, she and Kurt sat down as the others grabbed two more chairs to sit on.  
  
Santana and Kurt both had their legs crossed in a serious manner.  
  
If anyone were to look at their table, they would think that the two were trying to strike a deal with the other two as their entourage.  
  
Oliver set his cup of coffee to the side and placed a single file on the table before sliding it to the group.  
  
Kurt's eyebrow rose at the dramatic handoff before he picked it up and opened it to find information about Cooper Seldon.  
  
Kurt handed the file to the others before speaking, "I'm guessing _Cooper Seldon_ isn't as dead as it says he is."  
  
"A mutual friend of mine and Barry's went to the same college as him, they had even dated until he was arrested." The others gave the file back to Oliver as he continued.  
  
"She wrote a computer virus, one that could destroy any network the user would want."  
  
That's when Thad entered the conversation, "You mean that city wide cyber attack in Starling City? It was all over social media. I hear they got away with a ton of money."  
  
Santana, being the more perceptive person in the group, pointed out something as she spoke.  
  
"They're both missing, aren't they?"  
  
Oliver nodded in confirmation.  
  
"Felicity is being used as both a hostage and a hacker to do their bidding. What I don't get yet, is why he wanted Barry. So, what's their relationship?"  
  
The four looked to each other before Santana spoke for them. " _Hunter_ is the twink's ex."  
  
Blaine looked a bit hesitant as he added, "He was practically obsessed with Barry. He wouldn't let anyone near him, let alone give him his own free will."  
  
Thad nodded in sympathy for Barry.  
  
Oliver thought it over in his head before speaking again. "Sebastian Smythe."  
  
The group didn't look surprised that Oliver knew that name, let alone mentioned it, especially since they were talking about Hunter.  
  
"He's working with him?" Oliver nodded in confirmation.  
  
Kurt sighed. Despite the lack of screaming, the group was panicking on the inside.  
  
"We can talk more somewhere else. Meet me at the entrance of Star Labs tomorrow morning." "Wait, isn't that place shut down?"  
  
"Yeah, we passed it once on the way here and it looked kinda [spooky]."  
  
"It won't be a problem." With that, Oliver stood up and left to Star Labs to discuss with the others about what he found out.  
  
It wasn't much, but at least it was something, and the group of four would be meeting them in the morning too in case they missed anything.  
  
The small group of singers rearranged their seating so Blaine and Thad were now on the opposite side of Santana and Kurt.  
  
They decided to stay and try the coffee, and considering the week they were sure they were in for, they'd probably need it.  
  
It wasn't even five seconds since Oliver left that a waitress came to ask them if they wanted to order something.  
  
They didn't think much of it and ordered four cups of coffee.  
  
When the waitress came back with their drinks, Blaine was the person to speak in delight.  
  
"The reviews were right, this is the **best** coffee I've **ever** tasted. Thank you.."  
  
"Iris." They shook hands as she smiled at them. "Iris West." They introduced themselves before Iris had to leave for another table.  
  
The moment she was out of their sight though, her friendly smile turned into a determined glare at nothing in particular.  
  
 _Don't worry Barry, I'll find you, but first.._ Iris wiped down the counter as she glanced at the group of four at their table, _I need to figure out what exactly they know._


	17. MY Fault??

~ **Felicity** ~

I woke up to the feeling of nausea.  
  
The only reason I could think of was if Barry, or whatever he's going by, ran with me while I was unconscious.  
  
I opened my eyes slowly with a groan, wincing at the lights, only to find myself on a bed with my hands cuffed together as Barry read a book on the other side of the room.  
  
Barry didn't lift his eyes from his book as he spoke, "Finally, you're awake."  
  
He shut his book with a tired look.  
  
He stood up and walked over to me as I rushed to sit up. I moved back until I was against the wall as he stood in front of me with a blank look on his face.  
  
I kept my mouth shut as he sat on the bed facing me but I flinched when he reached out to me.  
  
I don't really know why I did, but I guess it's because I can't really trust him anymore, not after tonight and especially with the way he acted.  
  
He was just so.. different.  
  
He was unfazed by me flinching and grabbed my wrists gently, removing the cuffs to reveal the burn marks from the ziptie and ropes from before.  
  
"Tsk." Barry made a face at the marks before reaching into the small drawer next to the bed.  
  
In his hand was a small first aid kit.  
  
Barry opened the kit and pulled out an alcohol pad, rubbing it on the burn marks before grabbing the small roller bandage and wrapping it around my wrist.  
  
He moved on to my other wrist when I decided I should ask, "Why are you doing this?"  
  
He gave me a sarcastic look. "So you don't get an infection."  
  
"No, I mean.. Why are you helping Cooper? I thought we were friends-" "I know." "Then why would you do this?"  
  
He was silent as he finished wrapping my other wrist.  
  
When he was done, he put the first aid kit away and put the cuffs back onto my wrists, loose enough not to hurt, but tight enough not to slip off.  
  
".. Cooper is all I had."  
  
I frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about? You have Cisco and Caitlin. Even Oliver, Diggle, and I-" "No. **He** had you all! I on the other hand..? **I** only have Cooper."  
  
"What do you mean by _he_?" "I'm talking about Barry."  
  
Before I could respond, he stood up angrily with a glare pointed at me.  
  
" **No one** accepted me, not even Barry. The only person who gave a damn about **me** is Cooper."  
  
I stared at him in shock before calming myself down enough to think about what to say. "Who are you then? If you're really not Barry, then what do I call you?"  
  
He seemed to be calming down as he walked back to the chair he was on when I woke up before dragging it to the front of the bed and sitting on it.  
  
He crossed his arms confidently as he rested his leg on the other.  
  
"My name is Sebastian Smythe, and the only reason I exist is because of Barry and he doesn't even like me."  
  
".. What did you do?.. Barry wouldn't ignore you if you didn't do something wrong." He glared at me. It was so dark that I had to stop myself from shivering.  
  
"Wrong? What did **_I_** do wrong?"  
  
At the insulted tone in his voice, I was quick to rephrase. "No, no, I-I just meant-"  
  
"All **I** did was look out for **us**. **He** wanted Blaine. **He** wanted to win sectionals. And **he** wanted to make porcelain upset."  
  
Sebastian was practically fuming. I could see the rage so clearly in his eyes as he ranted.  
  
"It wasn't **our** fault that the hobbit decided to play hero and jumped at point blank range. The slushie **we** threw was meant for baby-face's **jacket**."  
  
Sebastian's hands curled into tight fists where they laid on his biceps as he gritted his teeth.  
  
"Cyclops only made it worse for **himself**. And that bastard has the audacity to blame **me**??"  
  
Sebastian stopped to take a few deep breaths. When he did, I spoke up, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accused you."  
  
He sighed. "I don't care anymore."  
  
By the look in his eyes, I could tell he was lying, but I didn't call him out on it. Instead, I asked him, "How do you know Cooper?"  
  
At the mention of Cooper's name, his body became more relaxed and his grip on his arms loosened a bit.  
  
He sighed again.  
  
"Cooper is my _High School Sweetheart_."  
  
I don't know why I was shocked by now, but I tried to hide it, which was easy to do considering Sebastian wasn't even looking at me anymore.  
  
Sebastian had a conflicted look on his face.  
  
"Cooper has done unacceptable things, but.. He didn't care that I acted like an ass or that Barry and I were weird and literally bipolar.."  
  
"You loved him.."  
  
He had a sad look on his face as he nodded. "Yeah.. He never treated me like I was inferior to Barry because of what I've done.."  
  
He frowned as he seemed to think back to his past.  
  
"He didn't treat me like I shouldn't exist. He made it feel like **I** was the one wronged despite what everyone else said about me. Cooper made me feel-"  
  
He drifted off but I could vaguely guess what he meant, especially since I felt the same way before.  
  
"He made you feel alive."


	18. Before Hunter

~ **Sebastian** ~

For as long as I can remember, I had always been the one to watch from the sidelines.

Always observing, but never being able to interact.

Despite what Barry believes, he and I used to be one mind, but we split starting from elementary. First, it was because of the constant bullying.

Sure, we had that coming since we were the ones who taunted them anyway, even if we did do it to save others from becoming a victim.

Still, the constant interference and the fact that Woodward had a crush on Iris made Barry their favorite target.

Barry started feeling upset at the constant harassment, but his parents and Iris kept him happy enough.

But one day, Woodward's gang tried going after Iris. That's when I first showed up.

No one knows about what happened besides me and the two thugs who tried going after our best friend.

Barry overheard the conversation between the two, how they were both planning to corner her after school when her club meeting finished.

And Barry wanted so much for the two to just leave her alone.

So like a genie, I granted him his wish.

It was exciting, finally being given the chance to experience life for myself, even if it was short lived.

I found it amusing how the two cocky bastards were practically trembling at my feet when I was done. It gave me a rush as they ran away.

After a while, I started showing up more frequently, and more kids started backing off- besides Woodward of course.

I may have been able to intimidate most of the other  _ toddlers _ at school, but the big oaf was buff even as a child.

Barry never seemed to notice anything, no one did.

Then, the impossible happened, and it took our mother's life as well as  **ruined** ours.

The bullying became worse. Woodward became more violent towards us and Barry spouting out what he believed didn't help either.

Barry didn't know when to be subtle. He still doesn't.

He didn't keep low like others would have. He constantly told everyone what he knew without any thoughts of the consequences.

So I decided to help him, in my own way of course.

It wasn't like I was gonna stop him anyway. Besides, where's the fun in that?

I gave Barry the confidence to say what he wanted without backing down but gave him enough sense to change the story a bit.

I mean, really, who would believe a little kid who says the impossible killed his mother.

Instead, I changed it up a bit.

The therapist we were forced to see since the incident was easy to manipulate.

It all simply came down to body language and phrases.

Instead of a man in a whirlwind of yellow lightning, we told the shrink that it was a man in yellow with a lightning design.

That it all happened so fast that it was  **as if** something impossible happened.

Of course, thanks to me, they started to believe us.

After all, kids can be confused and sometimes mistake fantasy for reality when they don't want to see the truth.

It still didn't get our dad out of prison considering how much evidence supposedly pointed to him killing our mother.

But at least we wouldn't be seen as the crazy kid who believes fantasy killed their parent anymore.

The mocking and pity from the adults and any stranger who passed us lessened, so did the shrink sessions.

The older we grew up, the longer I stayed, and the more different Barry and I became.

Then, Woodward broke our arm.

We were sent to Paris and changed our name.

Mrs.Smythe was our role model. Confident, knows what she wants, won't take no for an answer, and most of all, always gets the last word.

We spent the most time together, so it's not a surprise that we were influenced by her.

Then we met him, Dylan, our first love.

We met him in a café mamon showed us to and Barry decided he liked him, so I decided to get him.

Being with mamon so much taught us a lot about flirting but I guess that part stuck with me since Barry couldn't be smooth in his life.

Dylan was an easy catch and we started going out two days after we met him.

He introduced us to the funner side of Paris and took us to a gay bar.

Since we were tall for our age, Dylan got us a fake ID and brought us to the gay bars across town.

We didn't drink since we didn't feel right about it and Dylan, being a nice guy, never tried to sway us into trying.

He said that we weren't there for the drinks, but instead we were there for the dancing and the drama, to be us with no limitations.

It was actually kinda cute.

It was also where we discovered our liking towards dancing.

Of course, we had to leave a few months later, so we decided to call our relationship quits.

We still kept in touch though, and he was our support at times when no one else could be.

So we moved to Ohio and we were respected before we were feared.

No one messed with us, and many were seduced by our charms. It wasn't too surprising when we were made Warbler captain.

We were doing perfectly fine together until Blaine walked through those club doors.

We wanted him.

Barry blames  **me** for everything that happened afterwards, but the truth is that  **he** wanted to do it,  **I** only made it a reality.

But when everything went south, he denied responsibility. He pushed everything onto  **me** , the  _ Bad Personality _ .

He didn't want to admit that  **we** did it, and it wasn't that he  _ couldn't _ stop. He just  **wouldn't** .

He was too weak and scared to admit that I am him, and he is I.

Karofsky was just the tip of it all. The motivation to get Barry to actually act for himself.

I was pushed away while Barry was exempt from everything  **we** did.

Then..

Hunter entered our life.


	19. Sebastian's View On Their Past With Hunter

~ **Sebastian** ~

It had been months since the incident, since Barry started suppressing me.

We were called into the principal's office to discuss the change in Warbler leadership when a boy with a stiff posture was introduced to us.

He was polite and well mannered. It was obvious he was a military student considering his behavior.

We became quick friends with him.

He was always so confident and determined in whatever he did. We admired him for how well he seemed to handle being the Warblers' captain, and just like that, we fell for him.

We hung out a lot, got to know him, joked around with him.

Barry's insecurities held him back from telling Hunter how he felt about him, so he was fine just being with him.

It worked for a while until Woodward saw us. The overgrown toddler was even bigger than we remembered, but me being me, I took him down easily without a fight.

We left the scene with our stuff, only to be called back by Hunter.

Barry was scared of what he'd think of us now, so I ignored him, tried to push him away, anything.

Despite all of the rude comments, he still stayed. Patient and kind as always.

Hunter convinced Barry to tell him what we are, and what we've been through, but he still accepted us. We started dating a little while after, and Barry was ecstatic.

Then everything started going downhill.

Barry didn't notice when Hunter started taking over our life, but **I** did.

Barry only realized it when Hunter stopped us from meeting Niff. Hunter suddenly seemed so terrifying when he glared at us.

Barry was all too quick to forget all about it and go on as usual, but I remembered.

I remember being wary and cautious around him whenever Barry was anxious enough for me to appear.

Then we got into another fight with him, but it was worse this time.

I guess you can say that it was my fault that it turned so violent. I made Barry push him away, but it only served to further piss him off.

We fought for a while longer.

Barry doesn't remember this, but the fight caused us to have a [panic] attack.

I forced him out of the spotlight so I could handle it on my own.

Hunter must have noticed when it started too. He helped us to breathe while keeping a small distance from us, careful not to touch us until the attack was gone.

When it ended, we were left panting on the floor with Hunter watching us carefully.

After a [solid] minute, Hunter tried to reach out for us, but I glared at him in warning.

I didn't care that he could knock us out easily if he wanted to, I just wanted him away from us. I didn't back away in fear. Instead, I pushed him away.

Instead of getting angry like before, his look softened.

"I won't hurt you."

I scoffed tiredly, "That's what you said last time." I huffed breathlessly, "Now look where we are."

He was silent for a few seconds before he spoke again. "You're Sebastian, right?"

Considering how annoyed I was at that moment, it was a miracle that I stopped myself from making another sarcastic remark at the question. I knew what he meant, and it confused me.

He continued after no reply.

He crouched down slightly lower than us and looked us in the eyes as he spoke, his hands close but never touching us.

For someone who can be so intimidating, he looked so small somehow.

I'm sure he did it on purpose to give us some kind of comfort, and despite my anger towards him, it worked. I could feel some of the tension leave me as I slumped against the wall behind me.

"I just want you both to be safe, here with me."

_Both?_

I shook my head. "You mean you want to lock us up." I tried to stand, but I was stopped by Hunter when he noticed me getting dizzy.

"Don't touch me." I shrugged my arm away from him before moving towards the door. I fought off my growing headache as Hunter tried to follow after me.

Even while feeling faint, I was still too fast for him to catch up.

I practically ran through the halls and off of campus.

The only thing on my mind at that moment was to get as far away from Hunter as I could, so I didn't notice a buff body in front of me until I hit them.

It appeared that the world despised us, because when I looked up to see who it was, I found Woodward staring down at me.

Whatever expression was on his face quickly changed to a malicious smirk.

Unfortunately, my surprise halted me for a second too long.

Before I could turn and run, Woodward had already caught me by the arm and pulled me back.

A flash of fear crossed my mind as the next thing I knew, I was on the ground holding my side in pain.

Woodward kicked at my stomach repeatedly until Hunter came from behind him and punched him in the face. Woodward was out like a light.

Hunter carried me back to our dorm room where he helped us bandage our ribs.

When he was done, he crouched in front of us and held a [sympathetic] look.

"I told you, I only want to keep you two safe."

It annoyed me that he might've been right, so I avoided that conversation in favor of asking something I was curious about.

"What do you mean by two?"

I stared him directly in the eyes as I waited for an answer, and he stared back with a soft gaze.

I let him grab our hand and hold it as he spoke.

"Everyone might push you aside Sebastian, but you and Barry **both** exist."

He kissed our hand before continuing. "I care about both of you, which means I care about you too."

He looked so confident in what he was saying that I couldn't help but believe it just a bit.

We didn't say anything after that, but Hunter lifted himself so he could place a single kiss on our lips before pulling us onto the bed with him.

We fell asleep in each other's arms.

Barry only remembered flashes of what happened, so he didn't remember the conversation I had with Hunter, but he did remember what happened with Woodward.

After that night, I started thinking about everything Hunter told me.

I realized that he was right. Barry and I both exist, whether Barry and the others reject me or not.

I did whatever I could to stay in the spotlight after that.

It was the first **I** wanted something, and there was no in hell I'd ignore that.

Barry started hiding himself away and I got to spend more time with Hunter as **me**.

Sure, I didn't approve of the steroids- at least I got him to lay off a bit, but I still loved being with him.

It was only after he was expelled that I let Barry take control again. Without Hunter, there was no one to accept me, so I didn't even try to stay, but Barry was still reluctant.

The shrink that the others suggested to Barry surprisingly helped him a lot, which is way more than I could say about the shrinks we were given after our mother's death.

Now- years later, Hunter was back, and I'll do whatever I can to keep him here- with me.


	20. Caught

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My schedule is all fucked but whatever Ig, at least I'm finally updating this.
> 
> I have no idea how to get this where I want it but luckily it should be nearing its end very soon.
> 
> If you're still here then congrats and thanks for waiting this long.
> 
> It might be a while before I get the next chapter, but I hope you'll still wait.

The group of singers met Oliver and the rest only to be led into the Star Labs cortex.

Shockingly, they didn't seem too surprised to find out what they had.

Oliver eyed them for a bit before asking, "How much do you know about Barry?"

The four looked to each other before Santana answered his question. "We know  **everything** , including this little geek club."

Kurt hit her arm at the unnecessary comment, but she didn't even flinch. "Despite being able to hide his pain, Barry's terrible at lying. Besides, he tells us everything."

The other two nodded at Kurt's words.

Everyone looked surprised and a bit hurt at the thought of Barry trusting these people more than them.

While none of them knew anything about Barry's life before they met him, he told these people everything, including his biggest secret.

Thad was quick to notice the looks on everyone's faces.

"It's not something to be upset over. We experienced firsthand what Barry's past is like and how much it affected him."

Next to him, Blaine nodded and continued for him.

"We know better than anyone else that Barry wouldn't want to drag anyone else into his problems if he could help it. Because of that, we vowed to help him in any way possible."

The group of four looked completely serious as they said it, so it did help everyone to calm down a little.

Oliver nodded and moved the conversation to more important matters.

"Since you know Barry and Hunter better than us, what do you think the two of them are doing?"

The question caught the interest of everyone, who were all curious about what the small group of singers would say.

The small group looked to Thad, who pulled a [thin] folder out of his bag and handed it to Cisco.

Kurt faced Oliver and began talking. "We talked about it after you left yesterday. Hunter likes to put on a show. He's likely planning something big again, but that'd take some time."

Oliver maintained eye contact with Kurt as everyone watched Cisco open the folder curiously.

"Knowing them both, they won't go very far. Seb is just as dramatic as Hunter when he wants to be. They'll be planning a big surprise for all of us. Seb probably knows we're here too."

Oliver turned just in time to find Cisco pulling up a [small] list of different locations on the monitor.

"These are the most likely places for them both to be, but we don't know which."

Oliver nodded in thanks as he looked the group of four in their eyes with complete seriousness. "That's fine. Thanks to this, we can at least narrow it down."

The group of four couldn't help but feel happy for helping as they started discussing with everyone else.

While everyone talked, no one seemed to notice the girl hiding in the hall, recording everything.

Iris snuck out quietly and headed home, throwing her bag to her bed as she rushed to her laptop.

"I knew it."

She opened her laptop and placed her phone next to it as she replayed the video.

"I knew they were all hiding something from me."

She paused the video when the screen showed what Cisco had on the monitor just before she left.

There was a bit of a glare, but she still managed to read it all somehow.

After a few minutes of trying to find out where Barry could be, she got frustrated at the lack of info she found.

She kicked her desk, causing her phone to fall.

She sighed before picking it up. It was only then that she realized something.

She turned on her phone and exited her gallery app to open up old messages from Barry.

It was the only thing that kept her sane when he was in a coma. She'd read them whenever she felt upset and missed her brother, finding comfort in the familiar way it was written.

As she scrolled through the messages, she realized that she's texted him a lot less since he woke up. Before she could feel guilty again, she found what she was looking for.

It was from a week before the particle accelerator incident.

Barry mentioned a place he found a while before, and it just so happened to be on the list of possible places he could be.

Iris quickly grabbed a jacket and a pistol from her drawer. She got it a while ago for safety reasons with a bit of practice from Eddie, but she kept it a secret from her dad [and] Barry.

She wrote a quick note for her dad and rushed down the stairs to leave it in the living room before practically running out the door.

Iris knew that her theory could still be a longshot, but she  **had** to check, just to be sure.

It took awhile for her to get there as it was a little between Central and Starling.

Iris did her best to sneak into the building as there were armed men scattered around the building. It was almost surprising how easy it was for her to get in.

After about [half an hour], Iris heard muffled screaming from in one of the rooms she passed and peeked inside to find Felicity. She was [cuffed] to a bed with a cloth in her mouth to gag her.

After making sure that no one was in the area, Iris quietly but quickly slid into the room and shut the door behind her.

At the sight of Iris, Felicity's struggling became worse.

In a quiet voice, Iris tried to reassure her, "Calm down, I'm not here to hurt you."

Despite Iris' attempts, Felicity seemed to get more desperate. It was then that Iris realized that she was trying to tell her something. She pulled the gag from her mouth, allowing her to yell.

"Behind you!"

Iris' blood immediately went cold and she was quick to grab the gun from its hiding place and aim behind her, only for her arm to be grabbed tightly and twisted behind her back.

Before she could even tell what was happening, she found herself being tied to a chair by Cooper, who pocketed her gun.

"Take her to the other room." Two men came in and took Felicity, shutting the door behind them and leaving Iris to glare at Cooper, who was giving her a weird look.

"So,  _ you're _ Iris?" Iris' eyes widened at the question. She could just barely hear him mumbling, "I don't know what he sees in you."

Iris, angry and confused, ignored that last part in favor of questioning him. "How do you know my name?"

Cooper smirked and opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. He turned around to find Sebastian walking to him and chuckled.

"Talk about timing." He mumbled.

Cooper was blocking Iris, so she and Sebastian couldn't see each other yet.

"Something wrong? I heard a commotion." Behind Cooper, Iris' eyes widened. "It's fine. We just caught a rat is all."

Just as Sebastian was about to ask Cooper what he meant, he caught a glimpse of the person behind him and froze. He couldn't see much, but he could tell immediately who it was.

Cooper noticed his reaction and stepped aside enough for them to fully see each other.

"Iris?"

For some reason, Cooper really hated how soft his voice got.


	21. Dread

He couldn't believe it.  _ What is she doing here?! _

Sebastian's thoughts were all over the place.  _ How did she find us? Why would she come here? Does anyone know? _

He felt dread hit him like a truck.

Sebastian forced himself not to show his fear for Iris. He looked to Cooper and gave him a look to ask him to leave. Cooper frowned, but it disappeared as soon as it came, and he left.

As soon as he heard the door close, Sebastian felt his nerves increase. His hands started fidgeting as he kept his gaze towards the floor.

"Barry, I-" "I'm not Barry."

Sebastian took a breath and looked Iris in the eye. "My name is Sebastian, and I'm not your brother-" "You  **are** my brother. Even if you're not  _ Barry _ , you always will be."

Iris gave him a serious look, but Sebastian shook his head.

"No, you don't know me. I'm not nice like Barry, or considerate and caring. I'm selfish and do what benefits  **me** . I.."

Sebastian had no idea why he said any of that, especially to Iris of all people, but he could feel the pain in his chest grow sharper the more he did.

He looked back down to his shoes in shame. "I  **do** know you, and you're lying. I  **know** you're better than you say."

Sebastian looked back to her in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

Iris' expression became soft with care in her eyes. "I know about Tony's lackeys." Sebastian's eyes widened in shock. "You..? How?"

" _ Come on _ , those two had been eyeing me for weeks, then suddenly they were running away whenever they saw me."

Sebastian looked away from her gaze, slightly embarrassed about being caught so easily.

"I got them to tell me what happened, including everything after that, and that was  **not** selfish, at all." Sebastian almost held his breath at the words.

It caught him off guard. It only took a moment for him to relax enough to let out a small huff and a relieved smile.

Iris is the only person who's opinion Sebastian truly cared for, besides Cooper.

No matter what, Sebastian always knew that he could count on her to accept him in the end, even if his insecurities blinded him to that.

It's one of the many reasons why he and Barry fell in love with her.

Sebastian's smile quickly turned downward as he was reminded of everything that happened in high school and after that. "I've changed. Everyone-" "Everyone thinks you're an ass, I know.."

Iris' expression turned sad. "I've heard.. and I already know that it isn't true." Sebastian didn't say anything and instead gave her a questioning look.

"I can tell by the look in your eyes. It's different from usual, but it's not bad."

Sebastian drew his lips into a thin line as he thought about what that meant. Iris seemed to get the silent question as she answered a moment after.

"You can act rude all you want, but after everything you've been through- even now, you of all people deserve to be, yet you're still the nicest person I know."

The more she spoke, the more she could see Sebastian having a sort of dilemma.

It was silent for a moment, but just as Sebastian was about to say something, he was interrupted by the sound of screams and gunfire.

Sebastian was quick to turn to the direction of the sounds, but he didn't look too surprised.

"What's happening?" "It's probably Oliver." Sebastian turned back to Iris with a sudden seriousness.

"They probably noticed you were missing and figured out where you were." He sighed.

"I'll be right back." Sebastian turned and left before Iris could stop him, shutting the door behind him before picking up speed and walking quickly through the halls.

He didn't bother using his powers. Even though he can control it enough to use it for a short time, it was still a bit difficult to control, especially when running, so he barely used it.

As he walked through the halls, the sounds from earlier kept getting louder.

It was only when he heard something flying towards his direction that he stopped, just in time too.

Sebastian used his speed to slow time for himself and turned to find an arrow just a few inches away from hitting him.

On the other end of the hall was Red Arrow.

Sebastian scoffed and merely flicked the arrow away from him before disabling his powers just long enough to smirk at Roy. Sebastian used his powers again to walk down another hall.

After a few turns, he found Diggle fighting off a group of men.

Sebastian decided to hide and watch, so he turned off his powers again and did just that.

After a minute or two of Diggle beating them all, Sebastian saw Diggle touch a hand to his ear where a comm would be.

Sebastian saw him nod to himself and head off to Iris' direction.

Sebastian watched as Diggle left and moved to stand, but he stopped when he saw Diggle freeze as something was said through the comms.

When Diggle started sprinting, Sebastian had a small gut feeling that something bad might've happened.

With Diggle's panic and his own dread urging him to hurry, Sebastian picked up speed and ran towards Iris' room, sliding to a stop as his feet left a small trail of scorch marks.

The door to Iris' room was left wide open and the room was completely empty.

Sebastian went in search of Iris only to hear someone yell only a couple halls down.

Walking in the direction of the sound with his dread growing, Sebastian found one of the doors open and stepped in only to be met with his worst nightmare.

Felicity and the rest of Oliver's group were standing frozen in front of him, all of their weapons on the ground.

No one noticed Sebastian as he held back a shaky breath at the sight in front of them all.

On the other side of the room was Cooper, forehead bleeding and knuckles bruised, holding a gun to none other than Iris' head as she struggled in his grip.

Sebastian, standing frozen next to the group of vigilantes, felt his blood run cold.

_ No.. _


	22. Choices And Decisions

_ No.. He wouldn't. Cooper.. _

_ I don't know what to do. What  _ **_can_ ** _ I do? _

Sebastian suddenly felt lightheaded as his mind became chaotic with worry and terror.

Without even realizing it, Sebastian took a few steps forward.

Everyone was too busy watching Cooper in fear to notice him. While everyone did as they were told to avoid Cooper pulling the trigger, Sebastian was having an internal battle with himself.

And I don't mean with Barry.

In what felt like hours, but was actually a few minutes, Sebastian could feel a headache growing as the argument in his head grew more complicated by the second.

On one hand, Sebastian wanted to believe that Cooper was just bluffing, that he wouldn't actually hurt Iris.

On the other, he didn't know if he wanted to risk it. After all, if someone tried something now, there's a chance that Cooper might.

Sebastian was in a crisis and nothing was helping him make a choice--

Until he caught sight of Iris' expression.

His gaze had unconsciously focused on the gun in Cooper's hand from thinking so hard until he saw something flicker in Iris' eyes, and she looked absolutely teriffied.

She tried to hide it, but Sebastian knew better.

He could see the way her eyes would try to follow the gun, how she would avoid looking anyone in the eyes whenever she looked away from it, and how she'd bite her cheeks.

That's when he decided, and his body was suddenly more relaxed now that he did.

Everything went quiet, or maybe that was just him.

Sebastian could see Oliver and the others trying to talk Cooper down from the corner of his eyes, but he couldn't hear a sound.

It was as if Sebastian was watching a movie on mute, like someone had turned all of the sound off as the scene continued to play nevertheless.

It was honestly calming.

The silence gave Sebastian the chance to reorganize his thoughts, and when Oliver tried to sneak an attack on Cooper unsuccessfully, Sebastian was ready.

Cooper wasn't dumb, he had the smarts of a prep school boy and the training of soldiers. He knew to prepare for a surprise attack just in case, and he did.

So, when Sebastian saw Cooper eye Oliver in suspiscion, Sebastian let the world slow down.

He waited, watching as Oliver tried to take a pistol from Diggle's hand, which was hiding behind his back in hopes of Cooper not seeing it, in an extremely slow speed.

He saw the way Cooper's eyes hardened, signifying that they were caught.

That's when he made his move.

Sebastian walked to Oliver's group and took the gun away, tossing it far away from either group before continuing to walk over to Cooper in a calm manner.

Once he stood in front of him and Iris, he hesitated.

He wondered for a split second if he should really be doing this, if he could really surrender Cooper in exchange for Iris' safety.

He took hold of Cooper's hand, taking the gun from him with ease, his touch lingering as he put the safety on and tossed the gun away with his other hand.

_ I'm sorry. _

He let go of Cooper's hand and freed Iris from his hold before picking her up and walking to the room door, setting her down onto the floor gently with her body leaning on the wall.

Sebastian then stood in the middle of the room and looked around once before facing Cooper and allowing time to speed back up.

Behind him, he could hear the sounds of surprise and confusion, but he kept his focus on Cooper.

He hadn't said anything, hadn't even made a sound.

It would be unnerving to anyone else, but Sebastian-- who was currently on the recieving end of Cooper's stare, was unfazed.

"Sorry Coop, but I can't let you hurt her."

Cooper bit his lip before wordlessly pulling a gun from the back of his pants and aiming it at Sebastian's chest. Still, Sebastian was unmoving, not at all worried about being shot.

As he kept eye contact with Cooper, Sebastian heard multiple gasps and his name being called from behind him.

Iris was frozen in her place from fear, but not for herself anymore. She gasped when she recognized the gun in Cooper's hand as her own and her mind started racing.

Recent feelings of self blame came crawling back up at a rapid pace.

Things like " _ This is my fault _ " and " _ Please don't _ " circling her mind, but none of it was said aloud.

Everyone watched in even more worry as Sebastian took a step forward.

He took step after step, only stopping once the gun was an inch away from him, absolutely confident that nothing would happen to him.

"Put the gun down."

"You know I can't do that Seb." "Fine, then shoot me."

Sebastian closed his eyes as there was an immediate reaction.

Shouts of his name and " _ No _ " came from behind him as he waited for something to happen.

He could hear Iris trying to stand and run over to him, but someone stopped her.

Depending on the voice trying to reason with her, he could tell it was Diggle, and he silently thanked him.

He waited for a second, then two, before he heard a sigh and a soft  **Clack** sound just a few feet away from them. He opened his eyes when he felt a gentle hand cup his cheek.

Staring at him with a defeated look in his eyes, Cooper spoke softly, "I can't hurt you."

Sebastian let his lips curve upwards in a small yet sad smile. "I know."

The two leaned forward and met in a quick yet meaningful kiss, completely ignoring everyone else for those few seconds.

When they pulled apart, Cooper took a step back and riased his hands in surrender.

"I give up."

Sebastian watched as Cooper was immediately cuffed by Diggle.

He turned around when he heard Iris calling his name and found himself being tackled.

Thankfully, his quick thinking saved him and Iris from falling and he steadied himself as Iris wrapped him into a tight hug.

He wrapped his arms around her and tried to calm her down once he felt the tears falling from her eyes. "I'm sorry.." He rubbed her back comfortingly, "I'm sorry I kept so much from you."

He felt her shake her head before she pulled back and hit him. Luckily, there was no strength put into it.

"We can worry about you having powers later, I'm just happy you're okay."

He nodded, letting himself smile when she pulled him back into another hug.

When they pulled apart the second time, Felicity stopped right next to them.

"I wasn't lying when I said you had us as friends. It doesn't matter that you're not Barry."

Sebastian gave her an appreciative smile and nodded. "Thanks."

She nodded back, looking as tired as she should be considering everything that's happened in the past few weeks. Now that he thinks about it, he feels exhausted.

It felt like he could fall into a coma any minute now.

As if on cue, he could feel himself falling and his eyes becoming heavier.

He could vaguely recognize Iris and Felicity calling him with worry. He forced his eyes to stay open for a minute longer and realized that Oliver had caught him just before he hit the ground.

They were saying something, but Sebastian couldn't make out a single word they were.

After a few seconds of everyone looking worried, they all looked relieved when Oliver said something.

Iris kneeled down next to them and pulled Sebastian into another hug.

"Go to sleep Seb. We'll talk after."

As if that was what he was waiting for, Sebastian let his eyes close and his consciousness fade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Just wanna say that this part was a so-so for me, so I wanna hear your thoughts on this chapter and how it went. Did it feel anti climactic or did you feel it was okay?
> 
> Also, this story should be done with the next chapter, which I am currently working on. It'll mostly be about the aftermath of everything and how they'll deal with it.
> 
> Considering the pace I'm writing at, it might be out by tomorrow, but no promises.
> 
> That's all, so bye!~


	23. Different

When Barry woke up on a medical bed in Star Labs the day after everything happened, it was as if he had an epiphany, having seen and felt everything Sebastian had.

He was swarmed with guilt and self blame for trying so hard to push Sebastian away.

_He was right._

Everything Sebastian had done was because he wanted him to do it, but when push came to shove, he blamed everything on him.

Everyone was relieved that Barry okay and back with them, but he didn't feel like was. And Iris could tell.

After all, she made a promise to herself that she'd be more aware of Barry once she got him back, especially now that she knows about his hero identity.

So when she saw Barry looking down, she talked to him about it.

In the end, Barry decided to talk to a professional about it, and he knew exactly who to call.

So he brought out his phone and made an appointment.

He spent the week either hanging out with everyone or thinking about Sebastian and what he could change. Then that saturday, Barry met his high school therapist.

He was the only shrink to truly understand Barry, maybe even more than Barry himself, so they kept in touch.

He was especially helpful whenever Barry was on the brink of losing control.

Usually, he'd go to him for help in getting rid of Sebastian, but now it was the complete opposite.

So he met up with him, gave him a recap on his life-- minus the being a meta thing, and asked him what he should do.

Everything that happened was his fault, and now his friends were hurt and Sebastian was gone.

But Dr.Dre disagreed.

When Barry asked what he meant, he explained. "You may think that he's gone, but he's not." Barry furrowed his brows in confusion and Dr.Dre continued.

"Whenever we've met, you've always curled into yourself insecurely, but now you have the posture of someone who isn't afraid of what anyone else says." And he was right.

Barry suddenly realized that his back was straight and he was more relaxed.

Usually, Barry would often find himself slouched over with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. But now he was acting different.

When he left the session, Dr.Dre suggested that he should think about what that meant.

So in the following week, Barry found himself acting more and more different. It was mostly subtle. The sudden confidence in his walk, in his talk. Sassier quips towards the bad guys.

He even found himself being more wary and observant towards others.

It was so weird, yet he found himself feeling more calm and relaxed with himself than before, and it felt as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders.

When he went to see his therapist on the weekend, he found himself smiling more. Dr.Dre could easily see the change in him, especially after years of meeting with him.

"Now that you've started accepting Sebastian as a part of you, you're beginning to let yourself become more like him."

Barry nodded in understanding. "It will take a while to find a balance between Sebastian traits and how you've lived so far, but it'll help you more in the long run." "Okay. Thanks doc."

His therapist gave him a closed-mouth smile at the nickname.

"Come back any time."

With that, Barry left and decided to tell his friends, feeling a bit excited for some reason.

He first went home and told Iris, who demanded he give her life updates from now on, and she pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm glad."

She pulled away and hit his arm playfully, "Maybe now you won't trip all the time."

Barry gave her a look and she laughed, Barry joining her soon after.

They both seperated after a few more mintues of casual talking. Iris told him that she was meeting with Eddie soon for a date before rushing out the door after glancing at her watch.

She claimed she was gonna be late and run off, leaving Barry to sit there alone. Surprisingly, he wasn't as bothered about it as he thought he'd be.

He always felt jealous of Eddie, how he was always in the conversation when Iris was involved, and how he got to her before Barry, but now..

Barry let out a breath in what he realized was relief. _So much has happened in the past month I've been gone.._

He then stood up and left for his room, deciding to call Santana and tell her about everything, knowing perfectly well that she'd tell Britanny, who would in turn tell everyone else.

The Nude Ere-- Sorry. The _New Directions_ became friendly with Barry after he helped Klaine with their wedding porposal, but Santana was the only one to know about his super speed.

After his video call with Santana, albeit a lot of sass and snark, Barry took a moment to just sit there before getting up and running to Star Labs.

He told Cisco and Caitlin about his talk with his therapist.

They looked surprised, but Barry told them that they were friends, so they both deserved to know more about him.

The two of them almost teared up at that, deciding in the end to act normal about it while still giving him a happy and thankful smile, plus a few grateful hugs.

After that, Barry let himself become more and more like Sebastian, feeling more free than ever.

Much to the surprise of his coworkers-- and his own amusement, Barry started coming to work **on time**.

Shocker, I know.

He also became more confident at work, not letting anyone push him around, no longer jumping when someone came out of nowhere, and a lot more sass to his comebacks.

Everyone's jaws were practically broken for the first few weeks, but after two months or so they got used to it. It felt great.

He also rarely tripped anymore, his wits got quicker and sassier, his work was done more efficiently, and best of all, everyone took him more seriously.

Another change that's come with the whole " _accepting Sebastian_ " thing is that he's starting to come to terms with the life he had with Cooper, and he's not the only one.

Speaking of which, Barry often finds himself sitting in front of a familiar bulletproof glass waiting for him to arrive.

Their past together used to hurt Barry mentally, but looking back on Sebastian's memories-- the ones that made Sebastian fall in love-- helped him see the parts he didn't see before.

And while there were still a few red flags, Barry and Cooper both tried to change that, though it still took a lot of time and effort.

It was obvious to everyone that they were both still in love, but no one wanted to deny them that when it made them so happy-- that is, everyone but one.

 **_Dr.Wells_ **.

You might think " _where was he all this time?_ ", but no one can give you a definite answer.

The most you'd get is that he was called to someplace else for a long while with no way of contacting him, so there was no way he'd know about Cooper and Barry's disappearance.

.

.

.

Right?

Well, that's where you're wrong apparently.

You see, while Barry was the definition of oblivious and too-trusting, Sebastian was calculative and observant.

Having them both mix together had predictably changed a few things.

Barry was more cautious now.

Never putting too much trust in someone just because they helped him in some way, keeping at arms length anyone even remotely suspiscious, and more careful with what he says and where.

Thanks to that, he's also found out about the security setup hidden in his office, though he doesn't know yet who it belongs to.

All in all, Barry's new outlook has made it painfully obvious how creepy and weirdly knowledgeable Dr.Wells is, to which he wants to face palm for not seeing it before.

Anyway, he doesn't show any change in attitude towards him, but he makes a mental reminder to keep an eye on him.

**THE END!**


	24. Q & A

If you have any questions about the story or myself, feel free to ask here and I'll answer later.


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